Is Modi the Dictator India always wanted ?

Incredible India ! A country which celebrates its unity in diversity. A country where every 200 kms the culture changes, the customs chage, for heavens sake even the language and script changes. Parents wont marry their kids to another Indian because their caste and sub caste differs from their own. And until the IT revolution broke out, a Sardar and Madrasi only met in racist jokes.

Yet India continues to remain united and there are a few important things which make this great nation what it is. For starters more than being an Hindu or a muslim, every Indian has a greater religion which is cricket. And I say this with greater conviction cause I can challenge any one to show me a religious riot happening when an India Pakistan match is on. Just in case you might jinx the match, no one is allowed to even move their asses by an inch. Letting anyone on the roads to pelt stones is out of question. Statistically India has the lowest crime rate during important cricket matches cause both the cops and the thugs seem to have an unwritten agreement not to disturb each other during the match.

The cohesive force which binds India together is this passion which sometimes also translates into herd mentality and at the extreme fanaticism. A person who achieves this fanaticism can never do any wrong for the 1.2 billion people and even the media has to think twice before they can raise any questions on their deeds. The famous examples being Rajnikant, Sachin tendulkar or Lata Mangeshkar. And on the political front the biggest contender for this status is the BJP’s Mr Narendra Modi.

Modi has to his credential a 15 year unchallenged reign in the state of Gujrat where he undertook sizeable development work, every cubic meter of which was brought to the people’s attention by clever publicity. But he has a darker side too, the opposition is quick to point out the 2002 riots which killed scores of Muslims and Modi did nothing to prevent the massacre. He has been even alleged to have supported it. Doesent human blood on someone’s hand automatically disqualify him from standing for elections? Well in a country with 1.2 billion people with close to 75% Hindus, its no more a burning issue. There are more people who die on road accidents due to substandard construction methods than the Gujarat riots ever killed. And this is what matters more to the general public than what happened 12 years ago. Another important thing, riots are done pre election to polarize the votes. Once in power there is no incentive to the ruling party to do any riots or create trouble in its own rule. This is also evident in Gujarat with no more secretarian violence after 2002. In fact many Muslims in Gujarat today support Modi. Besides the opposition congress which launches attacks on Modi’s communalism is in itself accused of religious riots in 1984.

Modi has ruled Gujarat with an iron fist. He’s known not to keep an expansive cabinet just to please his party cadres, instead he takes most decisions single handedly. The cabinet basically exists to materialize his decisions. Any internal dissidence is quickly squashed and he soon earned a reputation of a person who should not be fooled around with. He refused to give into any inparty political pressure. His first victim was Keshubhai Patel who had nurtured the Gujarat bjp for so many years, kicked out completely by Modi. When he climbed the stairs to Delhi, Mr L K Advani the senior most BJP member faced a similar fate. Next in line was the ex finance minister Jaswant singh. In Indian politics prior to elections you try and seek as many friends as possible to keep your flock together. But it seems Mr Modi is doing internal housekeeping even before he is elected. And nobody in the BJP cadre now wants in invite his wrath, they are all falling in line supporting him steadfast.

This seems to be going completely against a “democratic India”. Are we headed towards a dictatorship if Modi comes to power? What about peoples voices? Well for one lets understand some more facts. India is largely a poor country, you’ve seen more than enough in slumdog millionaire and many of the votes can still be brought with meat fests and a bottle of rum. The affluent and educated class prefers to use the election holiday to do picnics and does not participate in the electoral process. This type of voting translate into an elected representative who has all the interest to keep his vote bank secure and hence keeps his vote bank poor and voting for him over the years. For years on if the vote bank keeps voting on meat fests and rum bottles, it creates more damage than democracy can ever do good.

These representatives now form a large part of the Indian parliament and are known to derail key developmental projects for their own petty interests. And being a democracy, if you don’t have the numbers to get the developmental bills passed through, it brings a slow down in the country. The ruling Congress government has also got its hand tied, as many of these representatives are coalition partners and arm twisting the govt to give in to their demands. If the govt doesent, they will withdraw the support and the govt can fall. The congress faced this dilemma for the past 10 years and hence has seen a serious dip in its popularity especially amongst the urban populace

This is exactly where Modi comes in. Current opinion polls show he has got such a mass backing that he probably wont need the support of these arm twisters to form a govt. And after coming to power if we go by his Gujarat example, he’s one who doesent listen to his own cabinet, leave aside his coalition partners. For one its good to see Indians stand behind one Modi than be divided behind Mamta Maya and Jayalalitha, the regional parties. Nothing against feminism, I’m sure all the three had been emmaculate once upon a time. The congress for this election is dead meat so no use even talking about them here.

Another thing that paralyses India is its corruption. Corruption just like cricket is another passion amongst Indians. Knowingly or unknowingly everyone is part of it, however they hate it. If you are caught on the road by a traffic cop, no one is ready to pay the official fine of 500 rs, instead they will happily part will a 100 rs note to the traffic cop as a kickback to let them go. And the 400 he “saved” will be proudly spent over 2 bottles of beer sharing this story with friends. Now the fact remains if the voter himself won't shy away from corruption how can you expect his elected leader to refrain?

Lets face it, Congress and the BJP both are the same side of the coin as far as corruption goes. You can never find actual money transactions taking place, since corruption at higher levels work on the rules of you scratch my back, I scratch yours. The favors are done in kind. Where if A helps B, B helps C, C helps D and D votes for A. So if Mr Modi’s party is also known for corruption allegations, how will he solve this problem? I have to present a case study for this particular issue.

Anna Hazare a social activist along with his deputy Arvind Kejriwal raised a giant movement against corruption in the 2012-2013 period which was seen as a revolution happening in India. Expatriates Indians who are criticized for their attitude to complain about the problems in India sitting out of India extended their hand of support for this movement. Some even returned back to India to join the movement. It drew unprecedented support across the country. But like they say more than the enemy outside you should be careful of who might be back stabbing you from the inside. Soon internal fighting started in the movement and one by one the movement started disintegrating. Arvind Kejriwal broke off and started his own political party to try his own luck. Anna Hazare, the grand old face of the movement seemed to retire back to his village as a helpless victim. The expatriate Indians who had joined the movement returned back to their jobs abroad and started lambasting again over India’s corruption.

Arvind Kejriwal started his image building as a new clean face who can rid India of corruption. He promised the sky to the people and even got himself elected chief minister of Delhi. Till this time probably he dint know he had been sucked in a political tornado and now the only way forward was to get sucked inwards. A series of mistakes made as the chief minister costed Kejriwal his image and he is now seen more as “just another politician”. With the congress decimated by its own deeds and Kejriwals image degrading by the day, this now leaves the Indian populace to go with the know devil Mr Modi.

But still is this fanaticism justified in a democratic country? How do we know he wont turn into a monster like saddam Hussein or gaddafi? Well we have to open our minds to other leaders who ruled with an Iron fist, Margaret Thatcher in the UK, Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore or Kemal Attaturk in Turkey. These leaders also acted tough, almost dictatorial in some cases but in the long run it benefitted their country and made them some of the strongest nations in the world. A large population needs a strong leader and Mr Modi is the dictator India always wanted

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